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Chapter 22: Poverty Is a Power Game

The second thing, the poor person has to be made clear that most of his poverty is created by himself.

Rich people produce very few children. It is the poor who go on creating children by dozens. And the spiritual teachers of all religions help them to produce children by dozens.

These people are serving the poor or creating more and more poverty, making the world more and more poor?

So the second thing is that the poor should understand their responsibility. For thirty years, total birth control - no children. That will be true service.

Thirdly, the poor are in the grip of the priests of different religions. They may give them different explanations. For example, Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, they say, “You are poor because in your past life you committed grave crimes. This is the result of it. The theory of karma. You have to suffer it. It is better to be finished with it; suffer it silently, patiently, without any complaint and without any grudge so that in the future life you are not born poor.

Now, this is a very great strategy to distract the mind of the poor from the social structure, the economic structure which makes him poor and give him a phony explanation for which no proof exists, no evidence. And a simple logic is enough to destroy it and its credibility.

You put your hand in the fire. Will it burn now or in the next life?

Action certainly brings its consequence, but it is connected. It is not disconnected and so far away that one death has to happen between. There seems to be no reason why.

You do something good, you should be rewarded now. No. In the next life you will be reaping a great crop of joy, happiness, comfort, luxury - but in the next life.

Strange. What is the connection? Why the consequence should be so delayed?

Nobody knows about the next life. Nobody knows about the previous life. That gives the priest a good ground to deceive the poor.

The reality is that he is economically exploited right now. So his eyes have to be taken away from the past, away from the future, and focused in the present. He has to fight for his rights now. He produces and somebody else enjoys the fruit. And the priests go on helping him to remain patient.

No.

I cannot say that. Enough is enough. Some impatience is needed. Some revolution is needed.